The worst performance rule (WPR) describes the phenomenon that individuals' slowest responses in a task are often more predictive of their intelligence than their fastest or average responses. To explain this phenomenon, it was previously suggested that occasional lapses of attention during task completion might be associated with particularly…

Technology acceptance models presuppose that technology users have clearly defined attitudes toward technology, which is not necessarily true. Complementary, social-psychological research proposes attitude strength (AS), a construct that has been so far insufficiently examined in the context of technology acceptance. Attitudes toward technology…

The experiment analyzed reactions of 115 first- to fourth-graders after realizing that they performed worse than they expected in a computer game. Based on the VIOLEX model of expectation violation, we assessed immunization against achievement feedback, assimilation (striving to increase performance), and accommodation (willingness for expectation…

In the present study we investigated which role manipulated (i.e., experimentally induced) and perceived (i.e., self-reported) self-control depletion plays in students' (N = 176 seventh graders) achievement-related experiences and behaviour during a test of English as a foreign language, while controlling for trait self-control. Our successful…

At a time when the national conversation is focused on lagging upward mobility, it is no surprise that many educators point to poverty as the explanation for mediocre test scores among U.S. students compared to those of students in other countries. If American teachers in struggling U.S. schools taught in Finland, says Finnish educator Pasi…

In-service teacher development programs are perceived as a common way to foster school improvement. Nevertheless, program evaluation to date ends with the assessment of acquired knowledge, skills, and motivation, frequently disregarding the actual learning transfer and its conditions. This study aimed to investigate how individual and situational…

We identify factors influencing young scientists' plans for research stays abroad by embedding theories of social inequality, educational decision making, and migration into a life course framework. We test the developed model of international academic mobility by calculating a structural equation model using data from an online survey of…

A system of qualification options has evolved that is complementary to company-based and school-based vocational training. Thus far, these alternatives have been largely disregarded by vocational education research. Yet with respect to the number of annual entries, those alternatives are currently nearly as significant as conventional vocational…

This empirical study investigates the environmental awareness of school children in Bavaria and Asturias. The analysis was based on a data-set (Bavaria, 900 students; Asturias, 182 students) that was collected in spring 2007. Students aged between 14 and 15 years responded to a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The theoretical concept follows the…

In this paper I evaluate the effect of student aid on the success of academic studies. I focus on two dimensions, the duration of study and the probability of actually graduating with a degree. To determine the impact of financial student aid, I estimate a discrete-time duration model allowing for competing risks to account for different exit…

In recent years, the transition from higher education to work in comparative perspective has attracted increasing attention from scholars and practitioners alike. Previous studies reveal similarities and differences in labour market outcomes across countries, but explanatory frameworks mainly refer to fields of study, whereas differences by types…

Purpose: Online programs rely on the use of educational technology for knowledge sharing in academic virtual communities of practice (vCoPs). This poses the question as to which factors influence technology acceptance. Previous research has investigated the inter-relationship between educational technology acceptance (ETA) and the vCoP context…

Purpose: The central research questions which the paper aims to answer are: What are the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in different European regions? What are the factors that most contribute to entrepreneurial intentions and the potential differences between the regions? Design/methodology/approach: This cross-sectional study…

Given that children in Germany with a lower socio-economic status (SES) are over-represented at general secondary schools, the present study aimed to examine the impact of children's SES on attitudes towards computers. The results suggest that compared to average SES students, children from deprived socio-economic backgrounds perceive the computer…

This paper explores the impact of policies and institutions on employment and unemployment of OECD countries in the past decades. Reduced-form unemployment equations, consistent with standard wage setting/price-setting models, are estimated using cross-country/time-series data from 21 OECD countries over the period 1982-2003. In the…